It’s hard to imagine remote Uranium City, even at its peak (before it lost most of its population after the mine closed), having two theatres. Today’s population of the hamlet (maybe the entire region) might fill half the theatre, maybe.
When was it called the Empire? As far as I’m aware it was always just Capitol 4 and it didn’t take the name of the new owner. Obviously if there is a photo or ad showing otherwise I’m willing to stand corrected. There is no signage identifying it was Capitol Centre, just SNC-Lavalin, its tenant.
As of August 2024, the space previously occupied by the Rainbow remains mostly unoccupied except part of it I believe was taken up by the neighbouring Urban Planet clothing store - as well as an access corridor to the new Cineplex.
The building has undergone quite a bit of refurbishment and no longer resembles even the original refurbishment that converted it into a business block - you can see the difference by comparing 2024 images on Google Street View with ones from 2017 or earlier. The back alley view (also visible on Street View) doesn’t actually seem to have changed much from when it was the Paramount.
As of 2024 the original footprint of Midtown Cinemas no longer exists (including the washrooms I mentioned years ago). The mall (now known as Midtown) underwent reconfiguration of its southern end following the closure of the Sears department store; the second level became a relocated and expanded food court; the former food court was reset for smaller retailers, and the space previously occupied by the theatre was fully demolished.
One unusual aspect I recall of the Sutherland Park is it was within line of sight of the Sundown Drive-In which was only a mile and a half or so to the east.
As of August 2024 the two screens were still standing on the site of Sundown Storage Solutions. They can be seen on Google Street View. They seem to be in good condition too. Maybe the owners of the property host movie nights for staff. LOL. As far as I can tell from Google Maps they’re the last remnant of Saskatoon drive-in screens as no evidence remains of the others.
Needless to say, this was the main venue for the English department’s Film class. I took the course under poet and film expert Don Kerr, who passed away last year. Another fond memory was seeing Adrian Cronauer host a special screening of the film about him, Good Morning, Vietnam.
Some additional information: the drive in actually opened in September 1968. At the time, it was called the New Starlite Drive In and was a replacement for the former Starlite Drive In on 8th Street. In February 1974 the New Starlite was sold and the new owners renovated the property and it reopened in March as the Southwinds.
In September 1968 the Southwinds Drive In opened south of Saskatoon; it was initially named the New Starlite Drive In, and it used that name until 1974 when new owners renamed it the Southwinds.
Just a correction on the main write-up: Pacific didn’t close because it couldn’t compete. It closed because the company that owned the Galaxy owned Pacific and Capitol 4/Empire and only wanted one theatre downtown, which is a shame.
The map location is incorrect. The drive-in was located (and the screens are still present) on the southeast corner of Highway 5 and 43, southeast of the location currently pegged on the map.
West Edmonton Mall used to have two other movie theatres, one by the western food court (which was replaced by this theatre) and a second set of screens near the east-end food court, which is now occupied by a sporting goods store. Both theatres are missing from the list.
Rainbow is on the south side of the mall where the iconic (and much missed) Jumbo Video used to be located. Both it and Odeon Centre, along with a neighboring dollar store, take up the space formerly occupied by Dominion grocery stores, which in turn became a disastrous attempt by the former Wildwood Mall to start its own food court prior to it merging with the bigger mall across the street.
Some more memories: I remember that the theatre’s entrance was on 2nd Avenue, but that was just the lobby. You then followed a “bridge” over the alley behind and this took you into the actual theatre building. After the show, you had the option of exiting to 1st Avenue or backtracking to 2nd. There was balcony seating, and this was the only theater where I remember experiencing an “overture” where they played music as people entered that was actually part of the film. Wish I could remember the titles of all the movies I saw here. I recall seeing a re-release of The Jungle Book in the mid-70s, and (of all things) the Lee Majors B-movie The Norseman in 1978 or so. Possibly The Black Hole, too (which might be where my overture memory comes from).
The two screens were promoted as Midtown A and Midtown B. After its closure, the space was used by a succession of temporary retailers (I recall one that sold RVs) until it was “closed off” by a line of smaller retailers and the excess space behind was demolished. As far as I can tell the washrooms, which were repurposed for the food court, are all that remain.
Some other details about the Broadway: for much of the 1970s it was an adult-movie theater, playing the R-rated softcore that passed for porn in those days. It was a pretty rough-and-tumble place. Oddly I recall it being the first place I ever saw a movie at as at one point they played The Love Bug (the Disney film), circa 1973-74. By the 1980s, it had become a respectable venue for alternative cinema and it also began hosting events ranging from concerts to appearances by the likes of James Doohan and Graham Chapman. Since the 1980s it has also been home to a long-running weekly improv theatre event called the Saskatoon Soaps. Last I heard the Broadway was attracting criticisms for having outdated equipment, but I don’t know if that’s been resolved.
This theatre has special significance to me as my mother was an usher there circa 1957 when she met my father. One of the last movies to be shown at the Paramount was Return of the Jedi.
It should be noted that the theater’s original name, Capitol 4, was taken from the original Capitol Theatre which operated one block to the north until it was demolished in the early 1980s for an office tower.
It’s hard to imagine remote Uranium City, even at its peak (before it lost most of its population after the mine closed), having two theatres. Today’s population of the hamlet (maybe the entire region) might fill half the theatre, maybe.
When was it called the Empire? As far as I’m aware it was always just Capitol 4 and it didn’t take the name of the new owner. Obviously if there is a photo or ad showing otherwise I’m willing to stand corrected. There is no signage identifying it was Capitol Centre, just SNC-Lavalin, its tenant.
As of August 2024, the space previously occupied by the Rainbow remains mostly unoccupied except part of it I believe was taken up by the neighbouring Urban Planet clothing store - as well as an access corridor to the new Cineplex.
The building has undergone quite a bit of refurbishment and no longer resembles even the original refurbishment that converted it into a business block - you can see the difference by comparing 2024 images on Google Street View with ones from 2017 or earlier. The back alley view (also visible on Street View) doesn’t actually seem to have changed much from when it was the Paramount.
As of 2024 the original footprint of Midtown Cinemas no longer exists (including the washrooms I mentioned years ago). The mall (now known as Midtown) underwent reconfiguration of its southern end following the closure of the Sears department store; the second level became a relocated and expanded food court; the former food court was reset for smaller retailers, and the space previously occupied by the theatre was fully demolished.
One item of note is while it is considered a stand alone, it is still connected to the mall by way of a corridor.
One unusual aspect I recall of the Sutherland Park is it was within line of sight of the Sundown Drive-In which was only a mile and a half or so to the east.
As of August 2024 the two screens were still standing on the site of Sundown Storage Solutions. They can be seen on Google Street View. They seem to be in good condition too. Maybe the owners of the property host movie nights for staff. LOL. As far as I can tell from Google Maps they’re the last remnant of Saskatoon drive-in screens as no evidence remains of the others.
Needless to say, this was the main venue for the English department’s Film class. I took the course under poet and film expert Don Kerr, who passed away last year. Another fond memory was seeing Adrian Cronauer host a special screening of the film about him, Good Morning, Vietnam.
At one point the theatre was promoted as Duffy’s Cinema Centre too.
Its former site is now Forest Lawn elementary school, a park and some multi-family residential.
The screens appeared to still exist as of 2020-21. Still being used to park school buses.
Some additional information: the drive in actually opened in September 1968. At the time, it was called the New Starlite Drive In and was a replacement for the former Starlite Drive In on 8th Street. In February 1974 the New Starlite was sold and the new owners renovated the property and it reopened in March as the Southwinds.
In September 1968 the Southwinds Drive In opened south of Saskatoon; it was initially named the New Starlite Drive In, and it used that name until 1974 when new owners renamed it the Southwinds.
Just a correction on the main write-up: Pacific didn’t close because it couldn’t compete. It closed because the company that owned the Galaxy owned Pacific and Capitol 4/Empire and only wanted one theatre downtown, which is a shame.
Not sure why I called the Capitol “Calgary’s premiere movie house” earlier.Weird typo!
The map location is incorrect. The drive-in was located (and the screens are still present) on the southeast corner of Highway 5 and 43, southeast of the location currently pegged on the map.
This theatre has had some close calls, but it’s good to see it’s still open. I’ve attended a couple films there and it’s a nice, old-school venue.
West Edmonton Mall used to have two other movie theatres, one by the western food court (which was replaced by this theatre) and a second set of screens near the east-end food court, which is now occupied by a sporting goods store. Both theatres are missing from the list.
Rainbow is on the south side of the mall where the iconic (and much missed) Jumbo Video used to be located. Both it and Odeon Centre, along with a neighboring dollar store, take up the space formerly occupied by Dominion grocery stores, which in turn became a disastrous attempt by the former Wildwood Mall to start its own food court prior to it merging with the bigger mall across the street.
Some more memories: I remember that the theatre’s entrance was on 2nd Avenue, but that was just the lobby. You then followed a “bridge” over the alley behind and this took you into the actual theatre building. After the show, you had the option of exiting to 1st Avenue or backtracking to 2nd. There was balcony seating, and this was the only theater where I remember experiencing an “overture” where they played music as people entered that was actually part of the film. Wish I could remember the titles of all the movies I saw here. I recall seeing a re-release of The Jungle Book in the mid-70s, and (of all things) the Lee Majors B-movie The Norseman in 1978 or so. Possibly The Black Hole, too (which might be where my overture memory comes from).
The two screens were promoted as Midtown A and Midtown B. After its closure, the space was used by a succession of temporary retailers (I recall one that sold RVs) until it was “closed off” by a line of smaller retailers and the excess space behind was demolished. As far as I can tell the washrooms, which were repurposed for the food court, are all that remain.
Some other details about the Broadway: for much of the 1970s it was an adult-movie theater, playing the R-rated softcore that passed for porn in those days. It was a pretty rough-and-tumble place. Oddly I recall it being the first place I ever saw a movie at as at one point they played The Love Bug (the Disney film), circa 1973-74. By the 1980s, it had become a respectable venue for alternative cinema and it also began hosting events ranging from concerts to appearances by the likes of James Doohan and Graham Chapman. Since the 1980s it has also been home to a long-running weekly improv theatre event called the Saskatoon Soaps. Last I heard the Broadway was attracting criticisms for having outdated equipment, but I don’t know if that’s been resolved.
This theatre has special significance to me as my mother was an usher there circa 1957 when she met my father. One of the last movies to be shown at the Paramount was Return of the Jedi.
It should be noted that the theater’s original name, Capitol 4, was taken from the original Capitol Theatre which operated one block to the north until it was demolished in the early 1980s for an office tower.